


Being loved

by under_the_blanket



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Elves, F/M, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Inspired by The Witcher, Love, Romance, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:48:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27266737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/under_the_blanket/pseuds/under_the_blanket
Summary: It's the year 1275. Your name is Eve.You left your past behind you to continue your life as a herbalist. Despised and persecuted by humans you live deep in the woods near Novigrad. Your life seemed quite normal until you suddenly got a visit from a special witcher.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

You were a beautiful woman. Your honey-blonde hair, which reached to your elbows, shone like gold under the sun. Your luscious green eyes resembled the most expensive emerald the thieves could ever get their hands on. When people looked at you, they thought you could wrap anyone around your finger. You were a feast for the eyes. You owned your own house and had a job that kept you afloat.   
If you looked at everything superficially, you could think you were happy and lived a perfect life. But you did not. 

You were lucky in misfortune. Yes, you could call it that. 

You were an Aén Seidhe, or rather an elf. Even if it didn't sound so bad now, that was only part of your story.   
As beautiful as the elves may be, you were graded as nonhuman.   
The Redanians loathed your race and hunted it down. So it happened that they caught your parents and burned them alive on the scene among the crowd. Fortunately for you, you were not at home when they found your parents. Only when you came back, they had disappeared without a trace. You later learned, through the whispering of the citizens, that a young couple was dragged from your house. The rest you were able to figure out yourself. 

Since then you have been on the run. Avoiding roads and running through the deep forests, which were only so full of wolves. As long as they were just wolves, you could defend yourself well, but with trolls, you tried to stay away from them. 

A month ago, you found an abandoned house and settled there. Because of the good location, you were able to collect many different herbs and continue the work of your parents. The old and traditional herbology of the elves. It was the pride of your folk and you did not want it to be forgotten by the hand of the humans.  
You took your work quite seriously and paid attention to every detail, to every single step of the treatment of herbs and properties, just as your father had taught you and wanted you to.

Your clientele was diverse. A mixture of adventurers, merchants, druids or lost wanderers. Since you knew the area well, they were grateful if you showed them the way to the city or one or the other herb that was missing in their collection. Even if the one or other question came up again, what a young woman was doing alone deep in a remote house, you could only smile and say that you needed a breath of fresh air and that the herbs were easier to find here. No one would need to know your story.

One evening you were sorting freshly collected celandine when you suddenly heard noises outside.   
You ran carefully to the door and took a wooden spoon in your hand.

Honestly, as if you could seriously hurt someone with it.

Your biggest fear was that it could be a wraith or a banshee. Because you saw some a few days ago near a meadow where you collected most of your herbs.   
A knot formed in your throat when you finally took the last step to the door and slowly put your hand around the handle. 

You took one deep breath in and out as you felt the adrenaline flow in your veins while your heart was about to jump out of your chest. 

_"You can do it!"_ you said to encourage yourself, even if it didn't really help you.

Even before you could open the door, you heard a voice calling out.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" 

It was a deep male voice. You weren't as scared as you were before. You knew monsters could talk, but none could speak so perfectly and clearly. Your fear had almost faded away again and you let your shoulders sink.   
Lowering the spoon, you opened the door and looked into two bright yellow cat's eyes that immediately took your breath away.

_A witcher._


	2. Chapter 2

Lost in his eyes you didn't notice that he asked you something.  
It was simply that you had never seen a witcher in flesh and blood before. Some people talked about them, but you thought they were just pure myths. Or legends about the great heroic deeds of a witcher who saved an entire village from a horde of monsters.   
Even if you didn't really believe in their existence... Well, until today... A small part of you didn't want to forget it and hoped to meet one time in particular.   
And luckily for you, there was one right in front of you.   
Like a statue, you stood in front of him, your hand wedged firmly on the door handle. 

"Do you have some herbs for me?" he asked and tore you out of your rigidity. 

"Huh? Uh, yes of course!" you said taken by surprise and the sudden volume of your voice made him shrug in surprise. 

You stepped aside to let him in and he thanked you with a short nod. 

You closed the door behind behind you when he was inside and immediately picked up the smell of cedar mixed with a slightly biting smell of iron.   
He sat down on the nearest chair that was by the fireplace and sighed in relief as he dropped his weight on the chair.   
You only noticed in the glow of the fire that he had an injury to his left rib.   
It hurt you to see him suffer so much and you wondered how quickly you had shown empathy for him.   
Without thinking further, you reached for the drawer next to the herb shelf and picked up some linen cloth and a knife.   
For larger injuries you always had enough cloth with you. 

"Could I take a closer look at your wound?" you asked him politely and were on the verge of being hypnotized by his eyes again when he looked up at you. 

He actually wanted to deny it, but he knew you wouldn't take no for an answer, so he nodded and you smiled contentedly. 

You kneeled down to him and took a closer look at the injury. It wasn't deep and not life-threatening, yet you wanted to treat it. 

You couldn't treat the wound without him taking off his armor, so you had to ask him for it first. But this wasn't really easy for you. Because you had never asked a man to undress in any way. But on the other hand, you couldn't treat him like that. You reluctantly put aside the thoughts that were holding you back and followed your work. Your parents wouldn't have done it any other way. Charity was very important to you and every rejection was a sin. 

  
"Could you please take off your armor so I can treat the wound?" 

You didn't let him see how embarrassed you were to ask him about it, but it had to be done. 

The witcher hesitated briefly, but he had no other choice, so he did what you asked for and took off the armor piece by piece.   
When he took off his chain mail, you could see all the scars that decorated his body. Some were deep and large. Others were small and narrow. Light and dark. There were many different ones and each one told a different story. You knew that the life of a witcher also had its costs.   
One part of you wanted to know all of them, especially those at his eye, but the other part wanted to remain silent, like a grave. You were curious by nature, but you knew that your father didn't like you to stick your nose everywhere. 

**_"Curiosity can cost you your life. "_ **

These were the words your father used to say every time you couldn't restrain yourself.   
They were always repeated whenever you were about to risk something out of pure curiosity or to question knowledge that wasn't supposed to be answered. 

But back to the present. You didn't want to rummage around in the past again. 

  
You took a paste made from a little grated chamomile and marigolds, which you had once made for fast wound healing and rubbed it gently on the spot.   
Then you dip your fingers into a bowl of water and let your fingers slide over the paste so that later it held better on the linen cloth.   
When the cloth was wrapped around his body and covered the wound well, you cut off the rest and tied a knot so that it didn't open.   
When you finished your work, you got up and put the materials back in place. 

"This should speed up the healing." 

"Thank you very much," he said and smiled. 

Damn it. That guy almost killed you.   
You knew there were beautiful people, but this one was like a god.   
His golden eyes lived in harmony with his long silver hair. 

_Were all witchers so beautiful? If so, where did they live?_

**Okay, wipe away the drool and come to your senses.**

You were just about to float on cloud seven when he started talking. 

"I know you've helped me a lot, but I need to ask you something." 

_Is he asking for my hand? Yeah, sure, very unlikely._

"Hm?" 

"I need some ribwort. Do you have any?" 

You shook your head, and all you could say was no. Actually, you were going to collect ribwort last week, but after you saw a wraith, you went straight home and avoided the place ever since.  
In the beginning you liked to be there because there weren't only rare herbs but also because there were no monsters or humans sighted. But now it has become a place for ghosts and even you didn't want to go there anymore. 

"But I have some celandine, if you could use it. It's not so very strong, but the effect is similar."

He nodded and you took the freshly picked celandine, which you had tied into a bundle earlier.   
You handed it over to him and your hands touched for a short second. It felt as if a spark had jumped over you. You were attracted to him in a strange way. A feeling that you couldn't really describe. 

"How can I name the person who treated me?" 

You blushed and had to smile.

"Eve." 

"Thank you, Eve." he said, beaming with joy as he spoke. You liked your name better when he said it. Yeah, you really could get used to it.

"A-and what is my patient's name?" and you couldn't believe what you just said. You were definitely under his spell.

"Geralt of Rivia. But for you just Geralt." 

He gave you the most beautiful smile you had ever seen and it hit you in the heart like Armor's arrow. 

Geralt wanted to reach for his bag, but you held up your hand flat and he stopped. 

"You don't have to give me anything. The company of a witcher is a reward enough for me," you said and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. 

"Really?" 

"Yes," you confirmed. "I have never met a witcher before, so I think it's a small gift from the gods."

"You always wanted to see a witcher?" 

You nodded. 

"I have only heard stories from you, but they were just speculations."

A smile spread on his lips. 

"Interesting. Most people despise us, so it's a rare sight when you meet some who accept us." 

You knew that all too well. You spent most of your life avoiding these people. If you hadn't gone out that day to pick herbs, your life would have ended up like your parents.

"But I'd like to know what an Aén Seidhe is doing here so far from civilization?" 

A question that somehow kept repeating itself.   
You were tired of hearing this question all the time and yet you didn't mind when he asked it. 

You saw how his cat's eyes lay calmly on you. He didn't ask it out of curiosity. He was worried. 

_Someone was worried about me?_

**_Impossible._ **

  
"It's... a long story," you said, putting your best **I-will-be-okay** look on and instinctively hoping he'd be satisfied with it. But that never happened.   
No, he put on his honest smile and leaned back on the chair while he crossed his arms.

"Well, I have time." 

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

You told him your story. Every single detail. You left nothing out. Trying not to burst into tears. It hurt you to talk about it because your soul was still bleeding. You didn't know if you would ever get over it. Your parents probably would have wished that you would not look back, but look forward.   
You were aware that looking back into your past drew you back. It opened old wounds. But it awakens both feelings and emotions in you. Sometimes sadness and regret. 

"The eternal fire, then." Geralt summarized and you saw how his eyes reflected the sadness in you.  
He could understand it and could comprehend your point of view as well as your current situation. 

"I didn't choose this life, and yet here I am." 

It was hard to keep your smile up. 

"It's admirable that you can remain so cheerful even in hard times," said the witcher, his words well thought out. 

"It's my parents who still keep me here in this world. If it weren't for them, I would've taken my own life long ago and could now be on the other side together with them. But I am not. My will binds me here on this world. My mother once told me: 'You have the whole world before you, Eve. Go and find your happiness.' My happiness is hers. I will carry on her work until my death. So the word happy has a different meaning here. "

There was an uncomfortable silence. You didn't really want it to come to this. But something triggered it and the words fell out of your mouth like a waterfall. Maybe you needed someone to listen to you. Just sat there and listened to you. Understanding weighed more than gold for you. 

Geralt cleared his throat. 

"It's great how hard you try for her. To lose someone important is something fruitful. I, too, had lost someone important." 

Your eyes widened in surprise and you wanted to know who this person was who was so close to his heart. But you were not sure whether you should ask him. Your father's admonitory voice hummed in your head and you struggled to resist it. But curiosity prevailed. Again. 

"May I ask who this person is?" 

You waited for his reaction when you saw the sadness in him.   
Such a strong man and yet mentally fragile, like porcelain.   
Who was this person who brought him into such emotional chaos?  
His beloved? His mother? 

You instinctively hoped that the first question didn't exist at all, and yet you thought it was a possibility. 

When the man started talking, you regretted asking the question.

_Yes, curiosity can **hurt you** and it did with you._ It felt like a knife wound. 

"It's a girl with ash blond hair. I have searched for her for an eternity, but now she is at my side again." 

You didn't want to show him you were hurt. Or rather, jealous of the girl who had such a great person by her side.   
A part of you regretted having patched him up. 

_Rip his bandage off! You should have just left him alone! You're too kind! Do you know what happened to your parents? Try to have as little contact as possible! Let him go!_

The voice cried inside you. It was filled with rage and hatred. Feelings that you tried to bury came out in this moment. But you didn't want to play the evil one and infect him with your mood.   
You swallowed your way of thinking and pretended to be a happy woman again. **_As always_. **

"I am happy for you. At least one of us has found happiness." 

Every single word burned in your tongue when you uttered them. You couldn't break into tears. **_Not now._**

"Thank you," he said, smiling at you and then your chest tightened. "You too will find happiness one day." 

You wanted to laugh. It was like a joke to you. No, of course you won't find happiness. You, who have nothing to lose but your own life. Your happiness died when you heard that your parents were sacrificed to eternal fire.   
For you, the train had already left the station. You only wanted to continue the work of your parents. That was the only thing that still gave you a meaning to life. 

"Thank you," you said briefly and smiled back. 

You saw the witcher get up from his chair and put his armor back on. 

"I'd better go," he interrupted you as you were about to ask him to stay the night. Actually, the wound would heal well within minutes. Unfortunately you had no reason for that, so you had to let him go with a heavy heart.

"Next time you come, I'll see that I have ribwort for you," you said and he looked at you in surprise.

"Is it hard to find at the moment?" he asked and you had to think of those horrible creatures again. 

"No, not really. It's just..." that you stopped and thought about how best to tell him. 

"It's just...?" he repeated and saw you struggling with the right words. 

"There's a meadow that only grows from them. But I haven't gone there since I saw a wraith there last week."

"Why did you not ask for help?" 

You just shook your head.

"No, I don't have the gold for that. I'm sure I can find other places where I can get it as well." 

All you heard was the witcher's sigh.

"You know I am a witcher. I could help you with your problem." 

"No, I cannot ask that of you. I couldn't compensate you accordingly."

Perhaps you wanted him to help you. But you weren't sure enough. You earned enough gold to survive, but you were frugal with your few customers. You couldn't afford a witcher. 

The witcher's shoulders trembled as you watched him try to suppress his laughter.  
Then his cat's eyes wandered to you and saw his white teeth appearing behind his lips.   
Your heart beat loud again and you had to swallow loudly. 

_Calm down, Eve. Calm yourself._

"You're really strange. Has anyone ever told you that?" 

Your eyes dropped to the floor and your fingers got all knotted together.   
You too had to smile.

"No, only you."


	4. Chapter 4

You could have talked to him for an eternity, but now he really had to go.   
The farewell was really not easy for you, but in the end he was just one of many customers you had. 

"Thanks again for everything. I'm out here a lot, so we'll definitely run into each other again." 

_Ugh._

You didn't want to hear those words, but that too had to be said.   
You ignored the unwanted pain.

"You're welcome. It would make me happy to see you again," you said and forced your typical smile on yourself.  
It was only a matter of time before this smile would be laid on.

_I am sure we will meet again. I'm sure we will._

And so your paths parted and everyone went his own way again. 

-

Your normal everyday life had found routine again, only that your thoughts sometimes slipped back to the handsome witcher.

_**Pff! What does sometimes mean? Most of the time!** _

And it distracted you too much from your work!

It's been two weeks now and you still haven't devoted yourself to your father's books. You still had so much to do.   
You wanted to try new potions, find new herbs. Actually, you had so much to do, but this witcher had stolen your mind. He was the reason why you had to repeat a reading several times, because you were not concentrated.   
The butterflies in your stomach wanted to fly out and find him.   
It didn't help you to think about him all the time. You knew that he already had someone at his side and he had told you right to your face. _Ouch._  
So it was simply better for you to ban him from your memory once and for all.   
It hurt you to admit that there was no hope with you two. But you were an adult and such things just belonged. It could happen again even if you don't want it to. 

On a sunny morning you decided to set out to find ribwort plantain. You packed a piece of bread and cheese and a bottle of water for your little trip.  
The moment you took your bag, there was a knock on the door.   
Your heart was racing again. But this time it was because you were **hoping** that it could be the good-looking witcher.   
He was back earlier than you thought.

In a good mood you strutted to the door and hummed a melody to yourself. As fast as your good mood came, it was gone when you did not see the expected witcher in front of you, but several men that looked like mercenaries.   
Some grinned, some looked at you full of hatred, others loathed you.

They were the kind of people you had always imagined. The people who took your parents on that one day.   
Every fiber of your body trembled with fear when you wanted to take them all on at once. But you knew you weren't strong enough. You were simply outnumbered. At that moment you wanted the help of the witcher, no matter how much it would cost you.  
But now there was nothing you could do but to flee, but where?  
You were trapped in your house.

_What should I do? What should I do?_

Panic was spreading inside you and you wanted nothing more than to get out of this situation or use magic like most elves could.   
But here you were once again a special case. You couldn't do anything or at least you didn't think you had any magical abilities. You had to defend yourself in the old-fashioned way that humans do and that was with bare fists or swords. Your parents hadn't said a word about your abilities as Aén Seidhe. That's why you didn't know most of the things about yourself. Your only purpose was to continue the work of your parents.

_Right? Was that what you really wanted? For your whole life?_

You had never questioned things before. You had always stubbornly pursued it because you thought it was your destiny. Your purpose in life. The task of Aén Seidhe, but was it really?

The rebel in you never really woke up and before you could protest in any way, your manipulated mind or your parents stopped you. Especially your father.  
Even though you thought that part of you died, you kept fighting. 

Unnecessary or **not**.

You tried to close the door, but the leader slammed his hand against it and forced it open with my inhuman strength.

You quickly let go of the door and ran to the window, while you grabbed the stool by the fireplace and threw it at him.   
But he fended that off with his arm as well. 

_What kind of people were they?_

You have never met such a strong person before. You were taken by surprise by his strength.

Just as you were looking for another object to throw, he suddenly grabbed you by the arm and you felt your wrist crushed under his enormous strength. It was only a matter of time before he would break it.  
You cried out in pain and saw his eyes light up, like a wild animal chasing its prey.

"I knew there was an elf here." one of the men said, while the leader did not let go of your arm and was about to crush it completely.

Tears ran down your cheeks. The pain and fear were in control of you. 

_May he end it quickly,_ you spoke to yourself when you noticed your arm turning a dark color.

"I don't understand what should be so great about you," growled the man as he pulled a dagger from his pocket.   
His gray eyes wandered down your cleavage to your chest and back up to your face.  
He inspected your whole body as if you were some kind of thing he wanted to look at more closely before buying. 

"And your ears..." he whispered and let the dagger slide along your ear up to the tip. He carefully drove the cold metal along your auricle and pressed the sharp edge against your skin when you noticed how his facial expression changed from second to second. It was hatred. That deep hatred in his eyes that took your breath away and made you tremble to your core. 

"They disgust me." 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all readers who read this fanfiction. Since the holidays aren't far away, I have more to do at work and I have less time to continue writing. So I will take a short break and concentrate on my work. Nevertheless I'll still try to continue writing, so please be patient and take care of yourself!
> 
> -sora


	5. Chapter 5

After he uttered the sentence, you only felt how he cut along your ear with the blade. It throbbed with pain and blood ran down your ear along your neck.

The smell of iron rose in your nose and befuddled you. You were about to faint, but you wanted to stay strong. The cut was accompanied by your painful scream, which was muffled by the laughter of the men. 

In this helpless situation, you still remained brave. You wanted to fight it. To stop the pain. To end all of this. And even if you were alone, you wanted to fight. Even until your death. 

So you tried to block out the pain and with your last strength you knocked his hand away, causing the dagger to cut deeper and almost cut your whole ear. 

You heard the dagger fall to the ground and you saw the opportunity to flee. 

Just as you were about to turn around he grabbed you by the hair and pulled you close to him. The pain was great because he held you by your bare hair and you were afraid that it would soon rip off. 

"You're not going anywhere." he growled in your ear and stood up. Taking you with him. You held your hair so it wouldn't hurt too much. 

You saw the dagger lying on the ground a few inches from your foot, but it was already far too late. He would just pull you away or take the dagger and end your life right then and there. 

While he was pulling you out of the house, you only saw a few of the men eyeing you with greedy and lustful eyes.

You were already buzzing through your head with all sorts of possibilities. 

What would fit out of you if they took you away? Will they sacrifice you directly to the eternal fire or will they enjoy you first? 

Again the tears came to your eyes and ran slowly down your cheeks, but you did not let go of your hair. 

When you were at the horses, he let go of your hair and tied your hands with a piece of rope hanging from the horse's saddle. 

He sat on the horse and pulled you up with him. He placed you directly in front of him so that he could keep an eye on you. 

Your heart was racing because you didn't know where they were taking you. You could see your fear, although you wanted to stay strong.

 _But for whom?_

Your head turned one last time to your house and you saw only parts of the memories of your parents. Scenes played out before your eyes that you knew only too well. Everything you had of them was in there. You wanted to run. Throw your legs off the horse and run into the house and save everything. You fought with yourself. You wanted to call for help, but who would hear you deep in the woods?

You turned away from the house and so from _yourself_. 

_Soon_.

They snapped the reins and the horses galloped off. It was only a matter of time until you arrived in Oxenfurt. During the ride you felt that your neck was getting wet. Blood continued to pour from your ear, but that was the least of your problems. The lesser of all evils. What bothered you more was the ever-shrinking house in front of you. It was rapidly moving away, which only made it clear that the men didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. 

They didn't take the path that was directly in front of them, no, they deliberately avoided it and meandered through the trees deep into the forest. The moss-covered ground muffled the clatter of hooves as the horses snorted and galloped. You knew the way to Oxenfurt and avoided it on purpose. It took four days on horseback without a rest and if they dawdled it would be five to six.   
The trees in front of you became denser, darker and gave off a gloomy aura. Dangerous and sinister. As if they were trying to warn the people, to scare them away early before they got caught in their branches and roots and let themselves be swallowed by their darkness. But even if you felt the warning of the forest, this warning was not addressed to you. It was to those whose hearts were corrupted. It let you know that you should not be afraid. You knew that nature was in harmony with you. They spoke to you and your bond was not like that of a human. Only your people could form such a bond with nature and your mother had told you that. They had their own language to communicate and also only a few of you could understand it. Because nature didn't let everyone have a part. The forest showed that they were not welcome here.   
But the men didn't care. Their bodies were defiant with muscles and you knew they were more than simple mercenaries. They were well trained. Trained for beings like you to capture you. For you, they didn't even really need to move a muscle. You were an easy catch for them and it shamed you greatly because it felt like an insult to your folk. A creature of an ancient race that was easier to catch than a mouse.   
But you were smart enough to know that you had no chance against a bunch of packed muscles of men.  
The crackling of branches and rustling of leaves drowned out your surroundings. Your good hearing was one of the few gifts you were blessed with.  
They rode along the woods, ignoring the signals that the trees gave off, and so it went until late at night. 

~

  
After what felt like three days, you noticed the strength in you disappearing. You could hardly hold yourself upright on the saddle and if there wasn't someone sitting behind you, you would have fallen off the horse long ago.   
One of the men said something to the others and the galloping became trotting.  
In front of you appeared a meadow surrounded by dense forest. It was more like a spot spared from the roots of the trees.   
The grass was short and the earth was churned up in some places. You knew that this place has had visitors before and these men were the regulars here.   
There was an old cage leaning against a pine tree on the edge. It was littered with rust and dents and yet to all appearances it was still being used.   
You guessed what and who they used it for.

They dismounted from the horses and as the leader descended, he grabbed you roughly and threw you over his shoulder. He threw you onto the open space and you heard your bones crack from the force. You suppressed the pain and scream you wanted to let out inside you. You felt like a mockery. A main attraction of the spectators and they were all hungry men who just wanted to relax after a long journey. _In their own way._

The leader nodded to one of his men and he walked towards the cage. 

_No. No. No._

It was all happening in slow motion.   
Your heart was pounding. It was beating so wildly that you could never have imagined. They wanted to lock you up in this little cage where God knows how many beings were locked up. You swallowed hard and your ears rang as loudly as if you were standing right next to a tower bell. Your throat constricted as you heard the sound of iron on the rough earth. As it was slowly dragged along in your direction. You couldn't remember if the pain in your ears came from the cut where blood had slowly dried on your skin or from the grinding cage. 

With a loud thud, the cage was set down at your feet. Now that it was in front of you, it was even more intimidating than from afar. While you had your trembling barely under control and you tried to show it as little as possible, the leader watched you with a broad grin on his face. He liked the sight of your fear. He could _smell_ your fear through his instinct. Even your sweat that slowly drove down your back.   
He licked his lips and when your eyes met his, you saw the hunger in him. 

His eyes narrowed. "Into the cage." he growled. A growl you felt to your core. This man was not human. No doubt about it.   
With a hunched back you climbed into the cage and the stench of old rotting flesh hit your nose, making your stomach go limp. But before you could even turn to the cage door, it was slammed in your face and you fell groaning on the hard cold floor of iron.

A laugh escaped the man in front of you and his condescending look was like a punch in the gut.   
It was like a picture of a lion looking at its captured prey. Waiting to finally get you between his teeth.   
You had to swallow hard because the lump in your throat was big and was getting harder to bear by the second.   
They had locked you up like an animal, because that's what you were in their eyes. But you were still alive. Before you could think of your own fate, your thoughts drifted to your parents. What atrocities had befallen them you did not know in detail, but neither did you want to know. Because otherwise you would be haunted by scenes that gave you sleepless nights. Just the thought of them dying at Radovid's hands. Captured by witch hunters. Dragged from their own homes while the other citizens stood idly by. Your hair stood on end, not from fear, but from anger. Be it a non-human or not. People in need should be helped. Where was the charity in this society. Was it also suffocated by radovid?   
You boiled with rage and as if the leader had read your thoughts, a gleeful smile danced across his lips. 

"Anyone who helps a non-human will be punished with the same fate. "

Your throat tightened even more.   
Perhaps people were watching because their were fearing their own life.   
A sane mind would have done the same. It would be pure suicide. Still, you were angry.   
Your reaction and the quivering of your lower lip, pleased him and he didn't miss that sadistic grin from his face. 

You never really had the time or the desire to look your captor straight in the eye and see him up close. His gray eyes were like diamonds poking out of the deep black of his short hair.   
As your gaze passed along his chest and arms, it was no wonder how he could throw you over his shoulder with ease, like a sack of potatoes.   
His caramel colored skin showed that he was a warrior. He was a soldier, serving his ruler. 

Your shoulders shrugged as your eyes met briefly and he just grinned mischievously. 

_A sadist and a narcissist._

He was aware of his strength and beauty. You would not have expected that in a ( _shit_ )hole as Oxenfurt, such beautiful people existed. At the same time, the citizens outside the city looked even more miserable.   
He had fought for this strength and appearance. Radovid probably showered him with jewels and gold, which must have taken over every corner of his estate.   
Your stomach turned at the thought.   
He might have the power to buy you free, but your lack of contact with people was like a wall between your world and theirs. You would never be able to understand them and the other way around. A harmony. A peace. A hope that would always remain out of reach, only fingertips delicately grazing your thoughts. They would always pass you by, like the clouds in the sky that you loved to look at because their colors soaking in the sun was like balm for your soul.   
A cloud that you could only chase but remained untouched. That's how it will always be. 

And the cage was proof of that.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you spent Christmas well and are already looking forward to New Year's Eve(hehe) I know that information doesn't correspond with those of the books or game etc, so I wanted to say that in advance. The backgrounds of the Aenn Seidhe may differ, so please don't be angry with me u.u  
> I wanted to make the leader of the mercenaries look a bit handsome(maybe a bit too much idk), although I actually regret it already lol  
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a feedback and thanks for reading!
> 
> Cheers
> 
> -sora


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